In the 13-year period of 2005 through 2017, canines killed 433 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 66% (284) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths. | More »

23 U.S. fatal dog attacks occurred in 2008. Pit bull type dogs were responsible for 65% (15). Pit bulls make up approximately 5% of the U.S. dog population.

In 2008, only one U.S. citizen over the age of 3 was killed by a breed other than a pit bull. 74-year old Lorraine May was fatally mauled by her two dogs: an Australian shepherd-mix and a golden retriever-mix.

70% of the attacks occurred to children (11 years and under) and 30% occurred to adults (21 years and older). Of the children, half (8) occurred to ages 1 and younger.

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15 comments:

mrs.Poodle | 1/04/2009 6:51 AM | FlagHow about the third fatal attack on a child being watched by the grandmother. Was it also a pitbull?

Anonymous | 1/04/2009 7:17 AM | Flag70% of the attacks occurred to children (11 years and under) and 30% occurred to adults (21 years and older)

Does this mean there were no victims aged 11-21?

Anonymous | 1/04/2009 2:50 PM | FlagIs there any way we can track level four maulings as well? I really think it would be an eye opener, not only to see the number of human deaths attributed to these dogs, but the number of serious, disfiguring, or life threatening injuries. I think the deaths are only half the story...so many adults and children are permanently disabled by these attacks, I think it really hits home. Pit bull fanatics always talk about dog "bites", but don't like to admit that a "bite" from a pit bull is more likely to become a mauling, with serious consequences. I think level 4 mauling should also be tracked, in their own category. It may be imperfect, but with so many posters sending news in, we should be able to at least get an estimate of how many people in the US have been seriously injured by these dogs.

This information may be crucial in helping law makers and citizens lobby for laws to regulate these dogs. Its getting harder for the pit bull lobby to obfuscate the facts surrounding the serious danger these dogs pose.

bitbypit | 1/04/2009 5:03 PM | FlagWe did not record any fatalities between the ages of 10-20 this year.

bitbypit | 1/04/2009 9:00 PM | FlagWhat is an "off-property" attack?An off-property attack defined by DogsBite.org is when a dog leaves its owner's property and attacks, and in the instance of a fatality kills. Such attacks are rare, but pit bulls are disproportionately responsible for them. Off-property attacks are determined by the residence of the dog, not the residence of the victim.

Examples of Off Property Attacks in 2008http://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#slackhttp://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#monkhttp://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#howardhttp://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#piotrowskihttp://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#mcdaniel

What is an "on-property" attack?An on-property attack is when a dog attacks or kills a person while the dog is on its own property. In the instance of 2-year old Abraham Tackett, the toddler wandered onto the dog's property and was killed by a chained husky. At the time of the attack and death of Tackett, the dog was chained on its owner's property. Thus, this death was not attributed to an off-property attack.http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/390788.html

bitbypit | 1/04/2009 9:04 PM | FlagThe third incident of a young child being killed by a pit bull-mix while under the care of a "grandparent," type family member was Lopeka Liptak, who was being watched by her great aunt. http://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm#liptak

DogsBite.org invites you to visit all of the 2008 fatalities and see if there were more cases such as this. They are incredibly sad to be sure.http://www.dogsbite.org/bite-fatalities-2008.htm

Jersey | 1/07/2009 8:35 AM | FlagCorrect anonymous. All we have to do is read up on the breed history and traits to get a theory of how this type of dog is going to act as a pet. The statistics just prove the theory. And you don't need to single out pits for this, take any breed you want and read up on what the dog was created to do. List the traits that are required to do those tasks. Then go to the breed rescue site and read off what to expect and look out for when adopting this type of animal. For some reason, pit advocates what us to believe genetics works for every dog but pit bulls. And I have a bridge to sell them in return.

mrs.Poodle | 1/07/2009 1:11 PM | FlagThere is another way of looking at this too.

I'm counting 25 mean evil pit bulls, 6 other rotten dogs, and 3 husky's making a total of 34 dogs involved in killing people. Pitbulls are 25/34*100 = 74% of all the killer dogs.

Anonymous | 1/08/2009 1:57 AM | FlagGotta wonder how many were killed by pits during the statistical vacuum between 2000-2005 when the dog lobby successfully got the CDC to stop tracking.

If Product liability ever becomes tied to breeding and breed standards, the industry will go through a radical change.

Currently there is no accountability...and they want to keep it that way! $ Billions are potentially at stake!

That's why they propagandize that "It's the owner" rather than "It's the breeder".

Pits have an off the chart propensity to administer Level5/6 maulings compared to other breeds. Thanks Dogmen!

Anonymous | 4/23/2009 11:46 PM | FlagItotally agree that pitbulls are obviously the most agressive of all dog breeds. However I would greatly apprieciate it if people would not under estimate the rotweiller who comes in second and should also be considered armed and dangerous.cf/sc

Anonymous | 5/08/2009 7:45 PM | FlagI agree about the Rot- As I was attacked by a 1 year old trained submissive Rot, off premise when I walked in the door of my friends house. It was not my friends dog and the owner was caught off guard by the attack. This week my brother has brought home an 8 month old male rot/pit mix where 5 children under 11 live with a baby on the way. I have sent him a link to this board.

Anonymous | 7/28/2009 12:01 AM | FlagI had a dog attacked by a pit bull and never forgot the ferocity. If this country valued children more, we would ban them altogether. As it is, my local park in SF is going to have off-leash dogs playing around kids and I think it is a recepie for disaster because of the pit bulls. I have been ostracized for pointing this out among the dog owners. How many more children have to die before the public comes out of denial about pit bulls? The numbers don't lie and i also hope maulings will be recorded so that can be seen. There needs to be a public education campaign about this issue, because right now, i can't get anyone to listen to me.